Those who don't know Xiao Lingchen well might find him gloomy and cold, but once you truly enter his heart, you'll be cherished and pampered.

The afternoon winter sun was warm, and the underfloor heating was cozy. The two woke up, but were too lazy to get out of bed, so they snuggled together and whispered to each other.

Tong Su poked his delicately shaped chin: "How could I not get enough sleep? It's all because of you! You've given me the entire household management of the Xiao family. Aren't you afraid I won't be able to handle it?"

Xiao Lingchen lowered his head and kissed her palm, saying, "The capable are often given more responsibility. In the future, you will be in charge of more than just the Xiao family."

"Hey, you're taking advantage of me again."

Tong Su glared at him and hurriedly withdrew her hand, but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her up, causing her chin to involuntarily rest on his shoulder.

"Bai Zhu, could you please enlighten me? You say you've gained an advantage, but I don't know which side you mean by gaining an advantage?"

Tong Su laughed and said, "I never knew you were so eloquent, brother."

Which is cheaper? Is it the cheaper one who is closer to her, or is he just coaxing her to let her not only manage the Xiao family?

The former was taking advantage of her, while the latter was trying to entice her to agree to a marriage.

—Outside of the Xiao family mansion, this naturally refers to the inner palace; his intention was to familiarize her with the affairs of the household as soon as possible, so that when she entered the palace in the future, she would be the only mistress of the vast inner palace, and all the affairs of the six palaces and twelve departments would be under her management.

Seeing the increasingly tense atmosphere in the mansion, Tong Su vaguely guessed that Xiao Lingchen was probably not far from taking over the palace.

This is much earlier than the original history.

In his previous life, because Prince Helian was seriously ill, Xiao Lingchen not only failed to form an alliance with the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion, but also became enemies. At the same time, facing multiple hostile forces, it would be very troublesome to usurp the throne.

In this life, she resolved the crisis facing Prince Helian, and with the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion as an ally, the maternal relatives and eunuchs became less of a concern. The day when Emperor Xuanyi abdicated was no longer far off.

Xiao Lingchen chuckled meaningfully: "Whether your words are sharp or not, you'll only know after you experience it for yourself."

Tong Su was puzzled, but after a moment she realized what she meant. Her face flushed with anger and embarrassment, and she said fiercely, "Shut up! How dirty-minded!"

He immediately laughed and admitted his mistake: "Alright, it was my fault, Bai Shu, please forgive me this time? Sometimes I'm not very good at judging people, and I always make people do things they're not good at. I really shouldn't have used you as a laborer. After all, you have things that are more suitable for you."

"For example, what kind of thing?"

"For example, an embroidered wedding dress."

"..." She laughed angrily, "You wish! There's no betrothal ceremony or marriage proposal yet, and you expect me to embroider a wedding dress without any proof? You're shameless enough."

He said slowly, "That's not a good way to put it. The six rites are being prepared, but I, your brother, still dare not even try to touch your beauty. How can you call that thick-skinned?"

Tong Su noticed that this person was becoming increasingly clingy and ingratiating.

The powerful Regent, who held absolute power in the court, became an inseparable leech at home, wanting to hold her every moment of the day, wherever they went, and refusing to let go.

She curled her lip: "No wonder people complain about you behind your back. They say that when you go out and teach people how to get along as a couple, you have the ugly face of a smug little man. I think there's some truth to that."

Xiao Lingchen propped himself up on his arms, placing them over her. His dark eyes stared dangerously down at her, his handsome face smiling as he slowly asked, "How much of that makes sense to you?"

He was too close, and although he was smiling, his eyes were unblinking, with a faint redness at the corners. The way he looked at her neck was more like that of a greedy, hungry lone wolf staring at its prey that it had been waiting for too long, dangerous and bloodthirsty.